About Beakwings
As a child, I never paid attention to nature, animals, or anything around me that wasn't candy or toys. One morning, I was walking with my dad in one of the neighborhoods in the city, and I remember hearing a loud squawk noise around—the sound of a beautiful big red bird coming from a terrace of an apartment complex. I stared at the big red beautiful bird for a long time. I was fascinated, and that memory has stayed with me since then.
I've been around birds, from small budgies parakeets to large macaws, and over time, I became fascinated with birds. I observed how they behave and how their brains function. I'm no expert or an ornithologist, but I've spent a fair share of time interacting with several birds.
I'm the type of person that will stop, take time and observe birds, even the ones we see every day—such as pigeons, wild birds, ravens, crows, etc. All birds in the world are unique, and yes, I have a particular love for macaws, but every bird specie makes the world a unique place—each bird's design is different in eye colors, beak sizes, quirky behaviors, etc.
As you grow older, you start noticing that the world you think is perfect as a child—starts taking a different perspective. Your mind starts comprehending the true beauty of the world around you, but it has, unfortunately, its ugly side. If you didn't know, birds would face many issues that threaten their habitat and population—such as human negligence, greed, and simply heartless actions such illegal trafficking of parrots in small bottles from one country to another. I've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. When I learned that we are losing 13% of bird species, my first question was—why is this happening? And What can I do? I'm just a simple guy, one in a billion faces with no money or resources, an extrovert, and shy. I wasn't looking down at myself, but I realized the problem was too big, and it was better if I let others do something about it.
One summer day in 2015, I was playing with Remy—my Catablue Macaw. He looked at me, and I looked back at him and said, "You're so beautiful; look at your feathers, your colors, how bright and lovely you are" That's when I began to think about Beakwings. I said, What if I create a clothing brand that represents and advocates for the birds? I was not thinking about a simple t-shirt gig with a few birds printed. I thought about the birds' colors, anatomy, and features mirrored and symbolized in the clothes. And, above all—every time I wear these clothes, I'll become an advocate for all the endangered birds—the ones whose habitats it's destroyed, the ones suffering from trafficking, neglected, and left alone.
I know, it won't be a simple task to put all this together, but my "why" and my passion for bird's conservation drive my actions, and I decided to take this journey wholeheartedly. I envision a world where there are no more extinct birds disappearing because of human mistakes.
With Beakwings, I desire to create a community, an army of advocates for these beautiful animals. Fashion is the mechanism, and clothing is the uniform that will empower each participant to reach out to the world and make them aware of how beautiful it is every time you look up at the sky and see a bird flying by.